5 Social Media Strategies to Boost your eCommerce Business

The
world we live in right now is dominated by the internet, and a huge chunk of
how people use the internet is through social media. So it makes sense for
e-commerce businesses to try to seize that opportunity by tapping social media
platforms to increase traffic on their site, increase their brand’s online
presence, and eventually generate revenue.

But social media platforms can be tricky to navigate, especially to those who are unfamiliar. In most cases, businesses turn to social media marketing services to help them figure things out. I’ve compiled 5 social media strategies to help boost your e-commerce business.

Get to know your audience

Let’s say you have established your brand, you have set up a wonderfully intuitive website, and all your products are in place, but all these efforts are going to be pointless if you don’t know who your audience is. Simply marketing to everyone is not going to be a smart move and will only lead to wasted time and cash. What you want to do is to target a specific audience, the ones who are most likely to appreciate your brand and make purchases.

In
order to do this, you will have to spend time doing research about the people
that you really want to reach and determine if what you’re offering is
something they are willing to pay attention to. Grouping your audience will
mean being able to focus your marketing resources on a group of people; and use
strategies to attract these people to your business.

But
first, you want to make sure that the products and services you’re offering are
filling a demand or offering a solution to a long-standing problem. Knowing
your product and your target audience are key to the success of any e-commerce
business.

Prepare
your social media accounts

Now that you’ve determined who your target audience is, your next task would be to prepare your social media profiles. These profiles are where you will spend most of the time engaging with your audience thus you have to think hard about what you want to include in the bio as it will be the first thing that people will see when they visit your page, along with your profile picture.

And speaking of profile pictures, being wise on what to use to serve as a visual representation of your company is also part of creating a robust social media presence. In most cases, businesses opt to use theirlogos. Make sure you have one that is simple, represents the brand, and memorable.

Next, turn your attention to your bio. As I mentioned, this will be your first impression to your audience. It is here that you are allowed to be a little creative, but keep in mind the messaging of your business or brand and craft a bio based on that. For now, simply putting the mission of your brand might suffice and you can come back and make the necessary changes.

In
some platforms, you are given the option to post your brand’s inception,
basically a story. While it’s not necessary to have one, in the beginning,
being prepared with what you tell your audience on how the company started will
make it easier to humanize the brand and make it relatable to people.

Optimize
your posts on social media

One
great thing that social media has afforded entrepreneurs is the fact that it
has opened the doors for e-commerce to flourish and thrive. It’s allowed them
to promote their products and services to their target audience in every
possible way. The fact is, your audience is already on social media, waiting
for the right brand to come along and grab their attention.

As an e-commerce brand, it is your job to try to reach your audience by optimizing your social media posts. First, you need to create accounts on a least three of the big social media platforms. You can start by creating pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Other platforms you might want to include in your roster are Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.

You
have to make sure that the content you post and share on these sites is of good
quality and offer value to your audience, otherwise, it will be ignored. Also
include pictures in your social media posts to show off the products, letting
customers decide if they want to see more by clicking on your landing page or
not. If you are able to produce a video of other people using your product or
reviewing your service, that’s even better and will significantly boost your
traffic and lead generation.

Engage
with your visitors

If you want to create a strong loyal following to your brand, the secret is engagement. People are not just looking for a product or service they need, they want a collaboration which is why they’re looking for brands they can relate to and whose messaging they also believe in. It’s not enough to simply post standard answers to questions they may have, they want to feel that the people behind the brand also care about them and not just set on making a profit.

It
is therefore crucial that you talk to your visitors, answer their questions,
and provide information about your brand and your products or services. This
requires you to be active and watchful of all your social media accounts.
Running an e-commerce business is going to require that you listen to your
customers, be attentive to their queries and reviews, and address any negative
feedback in a constructive way.

If
you want to answer their questions and at the same time lead them to your
e-commerce site, then the best way to do that would be to blog on a regular
basis. If you are seeing a lot of the same questions being asked, you can
answer them in a single blog post. Blogging regularly will send out the message
that you are a thought leader in your market. You become a source of
information your audience can turn to should they need answers.

First,
you establish your brand as a credible one when you have testimonials from real
people about the products and services you’re offering. Potential customers
always turn to reviews to see what others are saying about their offerings as
well as the brand itself.

Second,
reviews will increase your SEO. Positive product reviews can really help
improve your Google rankings. It will increase the number of keywords on your
page and it gives it a higher authority. This, in turn, puts your page higher
when people search for a specific keyword.

Consider all this process as an investment for your business. Only when you put in the effort will you reap the benefits down the road. Keep in mind that an effective social media marketing strategy takes time and a lot of planning. Throwing things around and hoping something works out is not going to cut it. Many social media marketing services have seen the rise of many e-commerce businesses only to meet their fall by failing to tap the social media market.

Article source: Leanne Brooks

Image source: pixabay.com

Author Bio:

Leanne Brooks is an avid blogger who loves to cover a vast array of topics including travel, health, digital marketing, and more. She is currently working with Lynkhero, the leading digital marketing agency, which offers Social Media Marketing services.